As this year’s pandemic-affected European football season wraps up in many countries across the continent this weekend, there is plenty still to play for. Several rebel Super League clubs are facing some harsh realities. Two of the five top leagues are still awaiting a champion. And some some clubs with rich histories are facing relegation.

Atlético Madrid is the surprise leader in Spain and Lille is an even bigger shock in France. Both can clinch their league titles with one final victory, with Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively, at their heels.

Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan have already won their league titles, but many of their rivals are still chasing Champions League qualification, which is crucial for both their image and their finances.

Some leagues will continue to play until May 29, ending only hours before Manchester City and Chelsea begin the Champions League final in Porto, Portugal.

Manchester United could win the first part of a European double for the English city on Wednesday when it faces Villarreal in the Europa League final in Gdansk, Poland.

The season finales in the top leagues will be spread out through the weekend, with Spain playing its matches on Saturday at 4pm GMT. Sunday is more packed, starting with all 10 English Premier League matches at 3pm GMT, Italy’s keys games kicking off at 6.45pm GMT, and France starting 15 minutes later at 7pm GMT.

Title races

Atlético leads the Spanish standings by two points, but Real Madrid would win the title on a better head-to-head record if they finish level on points.

The matches in France come a day later.

Lille, which leads the league by one point, plays at Angers, a team with little to play for, being in the middle of the standings. Defending champion PSG, for its part, after winning a record 14th French Cup on Wednesday against Monaco, will face a Brest team that could still be dragged into a relegation playoff.

Even third-place Monaco, which plays at Lens, could win the French title. However, the team from the principality could also drop to fourth behind Lyon and fail to even enter the Champions League qualifying rounds.

In other title races, the Danish league will be won by either Brondby or Midtjylland on Monday. Maccabi Haifa has the edge over Maccabi Tel Aviv for its first Israeli title in 10 years.

Champions League

For a European club from a major market, the drop in expected revenue between playing in the Champions League or the Europa League would be €50-70 million.

All three of those clubs were founding members of the doomed Super League project that flared up quickly and died just as fast last month, adding spice to the jeopardy they now face.

Failure for Juventus would be further humiliation for club president Andrea Agnelli after the Super League fiasco. UEFA could yet ban Juventus — and Real Madrid and Barcelona — if they continue refusing to renounce the Super League.

Fifth place would also likely cost former midfield great Andrea Pirlo his job after only one season as Juventus coach.

Liverpool’s late surge after a slumping start to 2021 has put it in fourth place ahead of hosting Crystal Palace — a team coached by former Reds manager Roy Hodgson, who will be overseeing his final match before retirement from the sport.

Leicester beat Chelsea to win the FA Cup on Saturday, then lost on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge in a match that included a mass brawl. That result lifted Chelsea, which can also qualify for next season’s Champions League by beating Manchester City in the final, to third.

Chelsea travels to Aston Villa for its final match while Leicester hosts Tottenham, which is in seventh place and holds the spot that earns a place in the new third-tier Europa Conference League.

European qualification

Tottenham could fall out of European qualification altogether, and even be overtaken by neighbour Arsenal, which hosts Brighton. Everton is also in contention but visits champions Man City.

Union Berlin could qualify for the Europa Conference League in only its second season in the Bundesliga. The seventh-place club hosts Leipzig on Saturday.

Relegation battles

Werder Bremen’s successful past includes winning the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1992 and reaching the UEFA Cup final in 2009, but the German club is currently in the relegation playoff place before hosting Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday.

In France, Nantes hosts Montpellier knowing a win could lift it clear of the relegation playoff spot. A Champions League semifinalist 25 years ago, Nantes looked doomed until winning four straight matches starting last month.

Unbeaten champions

Glasgow Rangers and Red Star Belgrade completed unbeaten seasons to win their leagues in Scotland and Serbia, respectively.

Slavia Prague can join them with two games left in the Czech league, which ends on May 29.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has been included in France’s squad for the European Championship in a surprise move by coach Didier Deschamps on Tuesday.

Benzema, who has scored 29 goals in all competitions for Real this season, has not played for Les Bleus since 2015 after a blackmailing scandal over which he faces a trial in October.

He also said in 2016 that Deschamps had “bowed to the pressure of a racist part of France” when leaving the forward out of the Euro squad that year.

The 33-year-old Benzema, who has 27 goals in 81 games for France, features in the 26-man squad alongside fellow forwards Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Kingsley Coman, Olivier Giroud, Ousmane Dembele, Wissam Ben Yedder and Marcus Thuram.

Manchester United forward Anthony Martial was not called up because of injury problems, Deschamps said.

While Deschamps had not picked Benzema since October 2015 and said he would “never forget” his comments, the France coach had never stated that he would not call him up again.

“I don’t have the ability, no one does, to go back and change anything. The most important thing is today and tomorrow. There have been important steps, one of them very important,” said Deschamps when asked about Benzema.

The striker was named best French player in a foreign league by the French professional footballers’ union on Sunday.

“We have seen each other. We had a long discussion. After that I had a long reflection to come to this decision. I’m not going to reveal a word of the discussion, it’s only our business. I needed it, he needed it.

“I have already been confronted with difficult situations, I have always put my personal case aside. The French team does not belong to me, even if I am well aware that the responsibility I have is important because of the choices I have to make.”

With Giroud lacking playing time at Chelsea, he is likely to make way for Benzema in the starting lineup.

Both players have been at odds, with Benzema saying on Instagram last year: “You can’t compare karting and Formula One, and I’m being kind.”

Deschamps sprung another surprise by picking Sevilla defender Jules Kounde.

Euro 2020, which has been delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, starts on June 11.

France are in Group F with Germany, Hungary and Portugal.

Under Deschamps, who took over as coach in 2012, France have won 14 games, drawn three and lost two in major competitions, reaching the 2014 World Cup quarter-finals, the Euro 2016 final and winning the 2018 World Cup.

The French Squad:

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur); Mike Maignan (Lille); Steve Mandanda (Olympique de Marseille)

Defenders: Lucas Digne (Everton); Leo Dubois (Olympique Lyonnais); Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich); Presnel Kimpembe (Paris St Germain); Jules Kounde (Sevilla); Clement Lenglet (Barcelona); Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich); Raphael Varane (Real Madrid); Kurt Zouma (Chelsea)

Midfielders: Ngolo Kante (Chelsea); Thomas Lemar (Atletico Madrid); Paul Pogba (Manchester United); Adrien Rabiot (Juventus); Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham Hotspur); Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich)

Forwards: Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco); Karim Benzema (Real Madrid); Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich); Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona); Olivier Giroud (Chelsea); Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona); Kylian Mbappe (Paris St Germain); Marcus Thuram (Borussia Moenchengladbach)

Source: REUTERS

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says he will speak to Sadio Mane after the Senegal forward snubbed him following Thursday’s 4-2 win at Manchester United.

Klopp left Mane on the bench for the first 74 minutes of the crucial Premier League clash, deciding to start Diogo Jota instead.

Following Mane’s brief substitute appearance, Klopp approached him at the final whistle to celebrate a crucial victory in the race to qualify for the Champions League.

But Mane refused to respond to the German and was caught on television walking towards the tunnel while shaking his head.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s trip to West Bromwich Albion, Klopp said he was not angry with Mane but would speak to the 29-year-old about the show of dissent.

“If somebody shows me five million times respect and one time not, what is then more important?” Klopp said on Friday.

“The world is in a situation when you make this one time bigger than necessary. That’s unfortunately the case.

“If you had seen me as a player what I did out of emotion it was insane — and I’m a completely normal guy, but it happened to me.

“We will talk about it, then it will be sorted. That’s all.”

Klopp suggested immediately after the match that his late decision to start Jota may have prompted Mane’s reaction.

The move paid off as Jota scored Liverpool’s equaliser, sparking their first win over their arch-rivals at Old Trafford since 2014.

The Liverpool boss does not expect any lingering fall-out from the incident as Liverpool try to secure a top four-finish in the Premier League.

“Do you want these things to happen? No,” he said. “But it’s not the first time in my life and I’m afraid to say it won’t be the last time.”

After failing to defend the Premier League title, Liverpool are trying to salvage a troubled season with Champions League qualification.

Fourth-placed Chelsea’s loss to Arsenal on Wednesday has opened the door for the Reds, who are four points behind with a game in hand.

With Chelsea playing third-placed Leicester next week, Liverpool will be almost certain of a top-four finish if they win their last three games against West Brom, Burnley and Crystal Palace.

“Most of the time I’ve been in a chasing role so if I’m enjoying it, I don’t know,” said Klopp. “Sometimes yes, but I’m used to it.

“Usually, when I’m involved, seasons go to the wire. Playing Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday is a tough one, but let’s give it a try.”

Source: AFP

UEFA announced on Thursday that the Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea had been moved from Istanbul to Porto.

The match on May 29 has been switched to the Estadio do Dragao to allow English spectators to attend as travel between the UK and Turkey is suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier, European football’s governing body announced up to 6,000 supporters from each club will be able to attend.

“We accept that the decision of the British Government to place Turkey on the red list for travel was taken in good faith and in the best interests of protecting its citizens from the spread of the virus but it also presented us with a major challenge in staging a final featuring two English teams,” UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said in a statement.

“After the year that fans have endured, it is not right that they don’t have the chance to watch their teams in the biggest game of the season,” he added.

UK citizens returning from red list countries are required to quarantine at a government-approved hotel for 10 days.

Earlier this week, newspaper reports claimed the match would be played at Wembley Stadium.

Supporters groups from the Blues and City had requested the game be moved to England.

The UK’s Transport secretary Grant Shapps said he would have welcomed the fixture being played in London.

“The difficulties of moving the final are great and the FA and the authorities made every effort to try to stage the match in England and I would like to thank them for their work in trying to make it happen,” Ceferin said.

UEFA said coronavirus rules in the UK made it difficult to hold the fixture in the English capital.

“UEFA discussed moving the match to England but, despite exhaustive efforts on the part of the Football Association and the authorities, it was not possible to achieve the necessary exemptions from UK quarantine arrangements,” it said.

The final capacity at the ground in northern Portugal is still to be set.

Last season’s final as well as a ‘Final 8’ tournament for the quarter-finals were also held in Portugal, but in the capital Lisbon.

“Once again we have turned to our friends in Portugal to help both UEFA and the Champions League and I am, as always, very grateful to the FPF (Portuguese Football Association) and the Portuguese Government for agreeing to stage the match at such short notice,” Ceferin said.

The last round of the country’s top-flight Primeira Liga will see spectators return to stadia on May 19, with a limited number of people permitted, the league said on Wednesday.

(AFP)

Manchester City were confirmed as Premier League champions with three games to spare after second-placed Manchester United lost 2-1 at home to Leicester City on Tuesday.

Pep Guardiola’s City side, who missed the chance to seal the title when they were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea on Saturday, are 10 points clear of United, who also have three games left.

It is City’s third Premier League title in five seasons under Guardiola and their fifth in the last 10.

Despite their home defeat by Chelsea at the weekend, City have enjoyed a magnificent turnaround this season after picking up 12 points from their first eight games — their worst start since 2008-09.

Since then they have been head and shoulders above their rivals and since hitting the top have looked unstoppable.

After losing at Tottenham Hotspur in November, they won 22 of their next 27 matches, including a 15-game winning run and a record-equalling 11 successive away league wins.

Guardiola’s side, who were second-best to Liverpool last season, also won a fourth-straight League Cup and can claim a treble by beating Chelsea in this month’s Champions League final.

Manchester United had delayed City’s title celebrations by beating Aston Villa away on Sunday but it was only putting off the inevitable and the party can now start in earnest.

On the other side of Manchester a huge “Champions” banner was draped outside City’s Etihad Stadium.

(REUTERS)

Manchester United put Manchester City’s Premier League title celebrations on hold after coming from behind to win 3-1 away to Aston Villa on Sunday.

Defeat for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side would have handed the title to City and their local rivals would have enjoyed seeing Villa’s Bertrand Traore opening the scoring midway through the first half.

But United hit back with two goals in four minutes after the break, Bruno Fernandes equalising from the penalty spot before Mason Greenwood put them ahead.

United wrapped up the win thanks to substitute Edinson Cavani’s goal three minutes from time.

Victory left second-placed United 10 points behind leaders City, with 12 still on offer to the Red Devils from their final four league games.

United, however, face Leicester and Liverpool in the coming week and defeat in either of those matches will see City, beaten 2-1 at home to Chelsea on Saturday, crowned champions before Pep Guardiola’s men are away to Newcastle on Friday.

United kicked off having not lost a Premier League match at Villa Park since 1995, a year before current manager Solskjaer joined the club as a striker.

Villa’s hopes of ending that run against United were not helped by England international Jack Grealish’s ongoing absence due to a shin injury, with Egypt forward Trezeguet a long-term absentee as well.

Grealish looked on from the stands on Sunday as did England manager Gareth Southgate, himself a former Villa defender.

Villa went ahead against the run of play in the 24th minute.

Fred’s poor pass to Scott McTominay allowed John McGinn to gain possession, with Douglas Luiz playing in Traore.

The Burkina Faso international turned neatly and held off the challenge of Victor Lindelof before beating United goalkeeper Dean Henderson with a powerful shot into the far corner.

United nearly equalised five minutes before half-time but Greenwood’s low shot was pushed away by Emi Martinez.

But United were level in th 52nd minute when Fernandes scored from the spot after Paul Pogba was brought down in the box by Luiz.

And they led in the 56th minute after Aaron Wan-Bissaka found Greenwood inside the box, with the teenage England forward beating Martinez with a low shot.

Worryingly for United, defender Harry Maguire limped off 12 minutes from time.

But Cavani made the game safe with an 87th-minute glancing header from Marcus Rashford’s cross.

And there was still time for Villa’s Ollie Watkins to be sent off after he was shown a second yellow card for diving.

Source: AFP

Bayern Munich may have wrapped up a record-breaking ninth straight Bundesliga title on Saturday, but sharpshooter Robert Lewandowski still has one more historic target in his sights.

The Polish striker scored a hat-trick in Bayern’s 6-0 thrashing of Borussia Moenchengladbach this weekend, leaving him just one goal short of Gerd Mueller’s 49-year-old record of 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season.

Lewandowski, whose tally this term stands at 39, has two more games to equal and break the mark set by Bayern and Germany legend Mueller back in 1972.

“I have to be honest, I am astonished. I thought Mueller’s record would last forever and never be broken,” Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told Sky on Saturday.

“Robert now has two games to equal or even surpass it. It’s clear that he will go down in the history of this club.”

With 275 goals in 348 games for Bayern and Dortmund, Lewandowski is already the second-most successful striker in Bundesliga history after Mueller,

Last season, the Pole’s 34 goals were the fourth most in a Bundesliga season, The top three places all occupied by Mueller, the legendary poacher of the 1960s and 1970s.

Nicknamed the “Bomber of the Nation”, Mueller scored 40 goals in 1971-72, 38 in 1969-70 and 36 in 1972-73, ending his Bundesliga career with 365 goals in 427 games.

Lewandowski may never break that record, but he is within touching distance of Mueller’s 40-goal mark.

“Gerd Mueller was my idol when I was young, but what Gerd Mueller was in my youth, Lewandowski is today,” said Bayern coach Hansi Flick on Saturday.

“If he manages the record, it will have been more than deserved.”

Flick also warned that Lewandowski “will need to be careful” as he chases the record, as he risks missing the last game of the season at home to Augsburg if he picks up a yellow card against Freiburg next week.

Yet team mate Thomas Mueller backed his side to help Lewandowski over the line: “If he puts away the chances we provide for him, then it will work out,” said the 31-year-old, who has 19 assists to his name this season.

Lewandowski said he was “grateful” for his team mates’ support on Saturday, adding that he was trying to keep a cool head as he set his sights on Gerd Mueller’s record.

“It doesn’t help to want it too much. You need to stay cool,” he said.

Source: AFP

With thousands of fans celebrating outside the San Siro stadium and a guard of honour onto the pitch, Inter Milan celebrated their first Serie A title in over a decade with a 5-1 victory over Sampdoria giving Antonio Conte’s side a record 14th successive home win.

Saturday’s match took place behind closed doors because of coronavirus restrictions but thousands of ‘Nerazzurri’ supporters celebrated outside the San Siro.

“The satisfaction is immense,” said Conte.

“It’s natural that we and our fans are now so desperate to celebrate something that we’d been waiting for so long to do.

“We’re happy to bring this joy to them.”

Sampdoria players formed a guard of honour as the newly-crowned champions took to the pitch after sealing their 19th ‘Scudetto’ and first since 2010 last weekend.

Claudio Ranieri’s ninth-placed Sampdoria did not spoil the party with Keita Balde scoring the only goal for the visitors after 35 minutes.

“Inter played on the wings of enthusiasm,” said Ranieri. “They played a great match.”

Ranieri, who led Leicester to the 2016 Premier League title, said his Genoa side had wanted to mark the occasion with a guard of honour.

“I told the players it would be nice to celebrate as they do in England and they immediately agreed with me,” he said.

Inter’s top scorer Romelu Lukaku and other players who played a key role in the title success stayed on the bench with Conte opting to start with some players who had been less present during the season.

Roberto Gagliardini opened the scoring after just four minutes latching onto an Ashley Young cross.

Alexis Sanchez added two more in a 10-minute first half spell, either side of Balde sending scoring off a rebound.

Substitute Andrea Pinamonti added another after the hour with Lautaro Martinez completing the rout from the penalty spot with 20 minutes to go to seal victory against a side Inter had lost against earlier this season, just one of two defeats.

Since losing against Sampdoria, Inter have gone 18 games without defeat and have now won 14 games in a row at home for the first time.

The entire team celebrated under the ‘Curva Nord’ tribune usually occupied by Inter fans.

“We continue to do exceptional things, we have 85 points and haven’t lost since the away game against Sampdoria,” said Conte.

“The boys continue to impress, and it’s a real pleasure to watch them play We’ve brought back credibility to this club.”

– Napoli move second –

Napoli beat Spezia 4-1 to move second, 15 points behind Inter, and keep in the Champions League chase, but Lazio’s hopes of elite European football took a knock with a 2-0 loss at Fiorentina.

Napoli are one point ahead of three teams — Atalanta, Juventus and AC Milan — who are tied on 69 points before they play this weekend.

Lazio are sixth, five points off the top-four having played a games less.

Dusan Vlahovic scored twice for Fiorentina to bring his tally to 21 goals this campaign, and push the Tuscany side away from the relegation zone.

Gennaro Gattuso’s Napoli had lost 2-1 to Spezia at home in January, but hit back against the relegation-threatened side to extend their unbeaten run to 12 consecutive games.

Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski finished off a Giovanni Di Lorenzo pull-back after 15 minutes and then provided the cross for Nigerian international Victor Osimhen to score the second eight minutes later.

Osimhen completed his first Serie A brace before the break off a Lorenzo Insigne free-kick to bring his tally to seven goals in as many games.

The 22-year-old has scored a total of 10 goals in 21 games played this campaign, having been sidelined with injury.

Roberto Piccoli pulled a goal back for Spezia after an hour but Osimhen was on hand to roll the ball across for Hirving Lozano. The goal was confirmed after a VAR viewing.

Napoli lost all-time record goalscorer Dries Mertens to an ankle injury in the second-half just seven minutes after the Belgian came off the bench.

Source: AFP

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reached a major final as Manchester United manager for the first time after a 3-2 defeat to AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico was enough to earn his side an 8-5 aggregate win in the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday.

United will face Villarreal in the final in Gdansk on May 26 after the Spaniards beat Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate.

Solskjaer had lost his last four semi-finals during his Old Trafford reign and despite Thursday’s defeat in Rome, the Norwegian’s side progressed comfortably thanks to last week’s commanding 6-2 first leg win.

“It’s a great achievement to get to the final. We didn’t win the game and that’s disappointing but we did the hard work in the first leg,” United captain Harry Maguire told BT Sport.

“We started the game a bit edgy. It was end-to-end like basketball and we gave them too many chances in second half. Now we’ve got to go to the final and win it.”

Edinson Cavani fired home a powerful finish after 39 minutes to open the scoring, but Roma found the net twice in the space of three second-half minutes through Edin Dzeko and Bryan Cristante to turn the game on its head.

United had goalkeeper David de Gea to thank for not going further behind as the Spaniard produced a string of superb saves.

Cavani headed the visitors level but 19-year-old debutant Nicola Zalewski’s shot took a big deflection off Alex Telles to beat De Gea as Roma secured the win on the night—but it was United who were left celebrating at the final whistle.

“We had some great European nights this season, with some big wins. It’s a pity for that second half in Manchester,” Roma midfielder Bryan Cristante told UEFA.

“Tonight we still had a few goals to score, but we exit the competition with our heads held high.”

Solskjaer’s team had tripped up in the semi-finals of two League Cups, the FA Cup and the Europa League since he succeeded Jose Mourinho in December 2018, but another exit never looked likely in the Italian capital.

Earlier this week Mourinho, who led United to their last trophy by winning the Europa League in 2017, was surprisingly named as Roma’s new coach from next season.

Hence the hosts started like a team with a point to prove.

De Gea superbly denied Gianluca Mancini from point-blank range, Henrikh Mkhitaryan headed into the side-netting and Dzeko drew another smart save from the Spanish goalkeeper.

But United grew into the game and came close when a clever Cavani lob clipped the top of the bar, before a powerful shot from the Uruguayan was saved by Antonio Mirante.

The visitors took the lead soon after, when a Fred pass sent Cavani racing through on goal to fire home.

Roma drew level in the 57th minute when Dzeko headed in from close range, and Paulo Fonseca’s side quickly completed the comeback when Cristante scored from the edge of the area three minutes later.

De Gea produced a superb double save on a Dzeko header and Pedro shot, before blocking a Mkhitaryan effort from point-blank range.

United survived the onslaught and drew level after 68 minutes when Cavani headed home a Bruno Fernandes cross, but Roma soon threatened again as Mkhitaryan’s shot thumped the foot of the post.

Substitute Zalewski made an immediate impact when his volley caused the Roma winner on the 83rd minute, but it went down as a Telles own goal after taking a heavy deflection.

(REUTERS)

Chelsea set up an all-English Champions League final against Manchester City as goals from Timo Werner and Mason Mount beat Real Madrid 2-0 on Wednesday to seal a 3-1 aggregate victory at Stamford Bridge.

If anything, the scoreline flattered Madrid as the 13-time European champions had no response to Chelsea’s speed on the counter-attack.

The Blues should have ran out far more convincing winners as they toyed with the tired visitors in the second half.

However, Werner’s cushioned header into an empty net on 28 minutes after Kai Havertz’s initial effort came back off the crossbar and Mount’s tap-in five minutes from time were enough to seal their place in Istanbul on May 29.

Backed by Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, Chelsea’s £220 million spending spree last summer has been rewarded with a first Champions League final since they lifted the trophy for the only time in 2012.

A return to the biggest game in club football is also the culmination of a huge turnaround in Chelsea’s fortunes since Thomas Tuchel replaced the sacked Frank Lampard in January.

Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane welcomed back captain Sergio Ramos from injury for the first time in six weeks, while Eden Hazard was handed a rare start in an injury-hit season on his return to Stamford Bridge.

But the Belgian was again a peripheral figure as Madrid’s over-reliance on Karim Benzema to provide a goal threat was exposed.

Madrid were handed a let-off when Werner swept home Ben Chilwell’s cross only to be denied by the offside flag.

Benzema needed only a half-chance to thump home his 28th goal of the season to level the tie last week in the Spanish capital and nearly moved ahead of Real legend Raul as the Champions League’s fourth highest ever goalscorer with a quick turn and shot from the edge of the box that Edouard Mendy did brilliantly to turn behind.

That was the closed Madrid came to an away goal and moments later they were behind as Werner scored just his fourth goal in his last 39 games.

N’Golo Kante and Havertz did the hard work as the French midfielder fed Havertz, whose audacious chip over Thibaut Courtois bounced invitingly off the crossbar for Werner to head into an empty net.

Chelsea have now kept 18 clean sheets in 24 games since the appointment of Tuchel turned their season around.

However, a failure to take their chances at the other end means they are still far from guaranteed a place in the Champions League next season.

That lack of a killer touch was exposed after the break as Havertz saw a free header come back off the bar before Mount blasted over with just Courtois to beat.

The former Chelsea ‘keeper, who controversially forced a move back to Spain in the summer of 2018, kept his current employers in the tie as he then saved one-on-ones with Havertz and Kante, with the Blues’ speed on the break too much for Madrid’s ageing midfield to cope with.

Tuchel was growing increasingly frustrated with his side’s inability to put the tie to bed, but could finally relax five minutes from time.

Substitute Christian Pulisic left Courtois on the floor and from his cut-back, Mount slid in to finish from close range.

Fired by Paris Saint-Germain on Christmas Eve after leading the French champions to their first ever final in this competition last season, Tuchel is headed back to the Champions League showpiece match for a second consecutive season, unlike his former club, who were beaten 4-1 on aggregate by City in the other semi-final.

(AFP)